CM Yogi Adityanath said that unprecedented changes have taken place in the field of agriculture and farmers in the last 11 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Farmers have benefited from schemes like soil health card, Kisan Samman Nidhi, and Minimum Support Price (MSP). For the first time, the agriculture sector has been connected with technology and the Krishi Vigyan Kendras are playing the role of a bridge in providing the best seeds and new technologies to the farmers.
Launching the ‘Vikas Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’, the Chief Minister said that this programme is a revolutionary initiative in the direction of “Lab to Land” i. e. connecting the farmers with the researches done in the laboratories. In this campaign, scientists, agricultural universities, departmental officers and farmers will work together to bring tangible changes in the agriculture sector.
The campaign will run from May 30 to June 12 in which 89 Krishi Vigyan Kendras, 826 Development Blocks and 8137 Kisan Kalyan Kendras of the state will actively participate. The scientists will inform the farmers about the suitable time for sowing, from the choice of climate, soil and seeds, so that the production can be better.
The Chief Minister said that in 2014-15, the MSP of wheat was less than Rs 1000 per quintal, which has now become Rs 2,425 and is getting up to Rs 2,800 in the market. In the last 8 years, the double engine government has brought revolutionary changes in the field of agriculture in Uttar Pradesh. The land of the state is 10-11% of the total arable land of the country, but 22-23% food grains are produced from here.
Targeting the previous governments, he said that earlier farmers did not get seeds, fertilisers, irrigation, and technology on time. Now they are getting the benefit of schemes like soil health card, crop insurance, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana and Kisan Samman Nidhi.
The Uttar Pradesh government has also strengthened the irrigation system – 15 lakh farmers have got free tubewell connections, and 23 lakh hectares of additional land has been irrigated through the Saryu canal, Bansagar and Arjun Sahayak projects.
The number of Krishi Vigyan Kendras has been increased to 89, and the fifth agricultural university is coming up in Kushinagar. Through this structure, farmers are getting information about new research and technology.
The Chief Minister also said that before 2017, payment of sugarcane to farmers was not made on time. Now in the last 8 years, Rs. 2.85 lakh crore has been paid to the farmers directly in the accounts through DBT. Also, closed sugar mills have been restarted and new mills have been set up.
Today Uttar Pradesh has become the largest producer of sugarcane, wheat, paddy and ethanol in the country. There has also been good progress in horticulture crops and farmers are getting facilities like export and subsidy for their produce.
The Chief Minister stressed the need to formulate an agriculture strategy keeping in mind crop diversification, co-cultivation and climate change. He said that timely sowing of seeds increases the yield, while late sowing can lead to a decline in the yield by about 30%.
He informed that ‘UP Agris’ project has been started at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore in collaboration with the World Bank in 28 districts of Purvanchal and Bundelkhand, which will empower the farmers technically.
In the end, the Chief Minister described agriculture as the basis for realising the Prime Minister’s vision of a “developed India” and said that the Vikas Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan would prove to be a milestone in this direction.